WHY WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT BUSHFIRE Bushfire is a serious threat to property and lives in Hobart. Changes to the planet’s climate mean bushfires are increasing in frequency, intensity and extent around the world, including here in Tasmania. The City of Hobart manages bushfire risk in our parks and reserves, and maintains fuel breaks between reserves and private property. But these steps will only help protect properties that are well-prepared for bushfire. It is the responsibility of each household to prepare for and manage their own bushfire risk. To protect your home and family, there are important things you need to do before every bushfire season. This action plan explains what causes bushfires, how we can manage the risk, and what you need to do to protect your home and family from bushfire. The increasing threat of serious bushfire means we all need to make changes to how we think about and prepare for bushfires.
A brief history of fire in Tasmania Fire has been part of Tasmania and Australia for a very long time, certainly before Europeans arrived. A core sample containing pollen and charcoal taken from deep sediment in a lake on Flinders Island off the coast of Tasmania showed Aboriginal people were actively using fire as a management tool at least 12,000 years ago. The first reference to bushfires in Australia by European explorers was in Abel Tasman’s diary entry on December 2, 1642 during his exploration of Tasmania’s east coast. A short time before we got sight of our boats returning to the ships, we now and then saw clouds of dense smoke rising up from the land, which was nearly west by north of us, and surmised this might be a signal given by our men, because they were so long coming back, for we had ordered them to return speedily, partly in order to be made acquainted with what they had seen, and partly that we might be able to send them to other points if they should find no profit there, to the end that no precious time might be wasted. When our men had come on board again we inquired of them whether they had been there and made a fire, to which they returned a negative answer, adding however that PREPARING FOR BUSHFIRE: ACTION PLAN FOR HOBART
at various times and points in the wood they also had seen clouds of smoke ascending. So there can be no doubt there must be men here of extraordinary stature. This day we had variable winds from the eastward, but for the greater part of the day a stiff, steady breeze from the south-east.
Parts of the Tasmanian landscape reflect these past burning practices. An example of this fire-shaped landscape can be seen today in the open button grass moorlands found throughout the Tasmanian highlands. Aboriginal fire practice across Australia was severely disrupted by the arrival of Europeans and as a nation we have not taken the time to learn with Aboriginal people to manage fire across the landscape.
How often do we have major bushfires? Because fire records in the past are limited, and records in the early days of European occupation are almost non-existent, a clear answer to this question is not easy. Tasmania has seen considerable fire activity across the landscape and it appears to be increasing in frequency, intensity and extent. Records kept since the early 1800s show significant fires in Tasmania across a number of years. In 1954 a large fire threatened the southern outskirts of Hobart and, along with other fires that burnt that year, led to the establishment of a new Bushfires Act, which was designed to limit the damage caused by fires lit inappropriately and escaping onto other properties. It was not until the 1967 Black Tuesday bushfires, which left 62 people dead, injured 900 and destroyed 1293 homes, that the Rural Fires Board was established, leading to the formation of the Tasmania Fire Service.
The changing landscape In 1967 the Hobart bushfire, which remains a defining event in Tasmanian history, moved so rapidly that many people had very little time to prepare for the catastrophic impact as it approached the capital city. But a bushfire does not have to be as intense 7
